Unbound
by chopper-marrow
Summary: In a world where Sally Jackson met Hades instead of Poseidon, Percy Jackson decides that he'd rather be a street rat than go to the orphanage after his mom's death. He'll steal from rich bastards, fight monsters and run away from friendly policemen, befriend kids who look normal but aren't, and maybe save the world from his jerk of an uncle as a side job. Gen. Cover by Mormoc.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series**

 **AN: First of all, I would like to thank mysticalhideoutpizza for coming up with the idea and courage to ask the lovely mormoc to draw the Son of Hades AU. And also for her to add a continuation comic because without that comic, this fic would probably never come out. And lastly to Kei for helping me out in the process of making this fic and also designing some stuff.**

 **Warnings: Dark ending in the prologue, but no more after that if I can help it. Also a bit of graphic description.**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy.**

 **.:-Prologue-:.**

Percy Jackson loved his mom.

Sally Jackson was the kindest, most wonderful mom in the whole world. She always prioritized his needs in front of hers. She would always set aside anything she was doing whenever he wanted her attention. She never, ever got angry. She scolded him, yes, but not angry. He has never even heard her raise her voice, aside from her calling for him in a crowded place when they got separated or when he strayed too far from their camping site and out of her sight.

Not only was she kind, but she also had an adventurous soul. Every summer without fail she would bring him along out into the deepest parts of the woods to set camp. In the day, they would explore the surrounding area, looking at all kinds of wildlife there. His mom was knowledgeable too. Whenever he pointed towards an animal or a plant, she would smile and explain to him what it was, their characteristics, and so on. When she doesn't know about something, she would pull out a worn out black journal and a few colored pens from her messenger bag and they would draw the object together so they can look into the thing later when they got back home.

He loved those activities the did in the day, but the best part about their outings would always be in the nights. Like how most people would often do on campings, they would eat marshmallows by the campfire, exchange stories (though it was mostly his mom doing the story telling. In these moments, she often told stories of what happened at work, on the road, anything on her mind. But not the past, not yet), and just enjoying each others company. Late in the night, while others would put out the fire and sleep in their tents, the Jacksons have their own set of activities. They would put out the fire and light up a candle. They would lay on the ground, enjoy the silence, as they looked upon the breathtaking view of the stars above. A view they could never see from the city. After a moment of silence, her mother would open her mouth, and the real fun began the second words came out of her mouth.

She would talk of heroes of the old, of the gods and goddesses, of terrifying monsters and magical beings. All things straight out of Greek mythology, and then some. She talked as if they were real, as if they were still lurking around in this world. Unseen by normal people without a certain kind of Sight. And he soaked in all of her words because he believed them. He believed that they exist, even if he had never seen any proof at the time, solely because of the way her mother talked about them and the way she just _believe_.

(Little did he know that he was also what people would call a myth.)

When she finished telling him those, she would tell him of her past. Like how her parents died in a plane crash when she was young and her favorite moments with them before their death. How she had no choice but to drop out of school to take care of her uncle Rich, the only family she had left. How, after all her efforts, her uncle still died and she was left with no money, no diploma, and no family. How her dream above all is to be a writer that can bring happiness to her readers. But the most often story she told him was of how she met his dad for the first time.

After uncle Rich's funeral, she got so sick of the pitying glances that were thrown at her so she went running into the woods near the cemetery. But she ran in too deep and ended up lost. She wandered around until it was dark and that was when his dad approached her ( _Like a stalker lurking in the dark,_ thought Percy). At first his mom was wary. But then they kept talking with each other, kept meeting each other on the same spot, and they fell in love.

News came that she was pregnant and the both of them were so happy, but his dad couldn't stay for reasons his mom refused to tell him. Dad told mom that he would always be watching after the both of them even if they weren't aware of it ( _Totally not creepy dad_ ) and warned her of the dangers that would come if they, Percy especially, got too close to the sea or sky. Mom took the warning seriously and never brought him to places that are too high or near anywhere that can drown him. Percy didn't mind, because he always got a bad feeling in his gut whenever he went near the two. The sky more so than the sea though.

Oftentimes, his mom would remark of the similarities between him and his dad. The same pale skin, onyx eyes, and jet black hair. Appearance wise, Percy was a carbon copy of his dad, other than the fact that Percy's hair was a bit wavy like his mom's, not straight down like his dad's. But personality wise, he was exactly like his mother. The both of them had the same kind of soul that wouldn't want to be bound.

Then he would remember the figure he'd seen in the darkness of his bedroom when he was younger. It was supposed to be hard to distinguish the person's features in the darkness, but that had never been a problem for Percy. For whatever reason, he could see in the dark better than most people, but not by that much (it also helps that the light reflected by the moon shone through his semi-transparent curtains). The person wore a dark colored coat that reached below his knees at the very least, he wasn't sure. He _was_ pretending to be asleep so that the person wouldn't notice him. From Percy's point of view, the person had a tall figure, pale skin, dark hair, and cold black eyes. But when he looked at him, those eyes would melt into warmth. He would approach him, one hand outstretched as if to caress him, stopped before any contact with him could be made, and promptly disappeared into the darkness.

He didn't think that the person who visited him was dangerous. Even if the person was dangerous, his gut told him that the person wouldn't harm him. But even so, Percy didn't tell his mom this bit of information. He was afraid his mom would freak out or something. Like that one time when she noticed that he was being watched by an old lady whenever they visited the park. She was so horrified, she never let him go to that park, or even near it, again for a whole year.

He agreed with her. Seeing an old lady wearing a leather jacket that was way out of her time is enough to give you nightmares of discomfort.

Basically, the first few years of his life were perfect. Until Gabe Ugliano arrived.

 **.:-Prologue-:.**

The first time Percy met Gabe Ugliano, he was seven years old, and his school had only started a few weeks before. When he saw his mom brought him for dinner, he questioned his mom's sanity. Sure, it's bad to judge a book by it's cover, but the guy looked like a tuskless walrus with three strands of hair on his bald scalp. Just looking at him made Percy want to collapse on the floor and puke. Not only that, everytime he opened his mouth, a disgusting smell would come out of it. Percy was pretty sure it was the smell of beer, since the man was holding a can of it. He never knew Gabe was the kind of guy his mom would ever have an interest in. But if his mom was somehow happy with her new company, he wasn't going to complain.

Even though Percy often saw her clench her fists under the dinner table when Gabe spoke rude things to him, even when he started getting rough with him when his mother went out, he didn't complain. Because, as he said before, his mother always prioritized him first before herself. It wasn't exactly a good thing (her mother needed to spoil herself too), but it just proved that somehow, in his mom's perspective, Gabe Ugliano was needed. So much so that she pushed aside her apparent discomfort towards the man. Though he can't see how Big Ugly there is even relevant in their life.

Thank whatever God out there ( _And gods and goddesses_ , he added) that his mother never married the big lump of mass. But the guy still moved in with them. It made their previously hard, but still manageable, life even harder and more miserable. Mom was the one who did all the work around the house _and_ was the family's source of income. Big Ugly claimed that he had a job, but the only thing he did was stay at home, watch the television, and play poker with his buddies. But he knew he couldn't blame all of their problems on Big Ugly alone.

That year, he got himself in trouble on the field trip of his elementary school when they visited some kind of art museum. Let's just say he tripped and caused the building to have a blackout for an entire week, which was really, _really_ bad for business. Needless to say, the curator was so angry he blacklisted the school from the museum. Percy told the teachers that it was an accident, but of course, he was expelled anyway.

The next year, on yet another field trip at a new school, they visited an animal husbandry. Their supposed leisure tour around the husbandry turned into a game of cat-and-mouse between a herd of black horned-sheeps and humans. Who were the cats? Here's a hint: They walked on four legs.

Not only did he have a bad reputation, he also had dyslexia and ADHD, which in turn gave his grades undesirable results. Add them together and you've got yourself a ticket to expulsion.

So yeah, both him and Big Ugly were a big factor to his mom's tough life. He had also noticed that, in those two years ever since Big Ugly made his way to their life and his own notion to keep getting expelled, his mom looked even more worse for wear every passing day. Then, _it_ happened.

 **.:-Prologue-:.**

It started on the summer before his third year in yet again another school, when he and his mom went on their annual camping activity (which also suffered since Gabe's arrival. Apparently he couldn't live long enough without his mom's cooking, so their usual two weeks trip had to be shortened into five days instead. Not nearly enough to satisfy their wanderlust). On the last night of their trip, as he got ready to blow the candle they had lit up for their late night sessions, his mom stopped him to reveal something.

Before his dad's departure, he left something for him. A box, his mom had said, approximately the length of his leg. His dad had designed it so that Percy is the only one who can open it (how in the world he managed that, Percy had no idea), so she didn't know what was inside. Though she had her own suspicion as to what it was. She hid the box under her bed, away from prying eyes and hands. She told him to never reach for it unless something happened to her, a horrible thought he refused to ever imagine. After she finished telling him all that, he blew off the candle and the both of them crept into their tent to get a well deserved sleep. To ready themselves for the next day when they had to step out of their own isolated world and back to reality.

When they got home, the moment Percy closed the door to their shabby apartment he heard the sound of skin meeting skin. He turned around and saw Gabe who had one hand in the air and his other hand holding a half empty bottle of beer, while his mom leaned to the wall with her back hunched, one hand holding her swelling cheek. His didn't think. He charged towards the hideous excuse of a human being with anger burning in his eyes, but he forgot that he was a measly nine year old, and that was enough for Big Ugly to be able to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying back. His back hit the door with a resounding thud, and a crack not a second later. Percy let out a pained scream, tears unwillingly falling down from his eyes as he collapsed on the floor, curling into a fetal position because it _hurts his back hurts his entire body is hurting so much it hurts it hurts it hurts-_

His mom yelled out his name, but he wasn't paying attention. His mom tried to reach out to him, but Gabe kicked her in the gut, stopping her attempt. Screaming one thing or another at her and kicking her black and blue. Choking her and punching her until blood ran out of her mouth and cuts littered her body. His mom struggled as best as she could. She clawed at him, kicked him with all her might, but it was useless. The view would have made his blood freeze but he didn't because he was too preoccupied by the _pain it's so painful make it stop please stop-_

When the pain finally dulled enough for him to take note of his surroundings again, he looked up just in time for Gabe to deliver his finishing blow. He raised his beer bottle high in the air and struck down, making it hit his mom's head. The bottle shattered and his mother fell to the ground, not moving. He noticed that her mother's chest wasn't heaving up and down. She wasn't breathing. She was dead. His mom was dead. His mom just died in front of his eyes and he _couldn't do a thing to stop it._

Something inside of him snapped. His tears kept falling down his face. With energy he never knew he had before, he stood up silently. At the same time, a black mass of... _something_ began to appear around the room. Writhing and struggling, pained moans laced with despair unheard by anyone other than him reached his ears, but he ignored them. His instincts told him that if he listened too closely, he would be dragged into the darkness, unable to escape. Gabe didn't notice him standing up, too drunk and satisfied with his deed as he sluggishly walked back to the living room, swaying left and right. Unconsciously, almost automatically, Percy shakily raised his hand in front of him. His mind was a mess, he was thinking of everything and nothing at the same time. He willed his hand to stop shaking, and it did. That was when all hell broke loose.

As if on cue, skeletal hands appeared from the floor right under Gabe. He tripped and fell to the floor. He tried to stand up but he couldn't. Because those hands grabbed his arm, his ankle, his entire body, and they chained him to the ground. Gabe was drunk and confused. He tried tugging them off but the hands just tightened their grips on him. He became angry and frustrated until he noticed something right in front of him. There on the ground he was facing, in the puddle of black liquid that appeared out of nowhere, countless of eyes stared back at him. Each of those eyes had their own stories to tell. All of which would not end good for him and he just knew it.

This time, he tried to fight those hands with more power than he had before, but to no avail. Those eyes observed him. They didn't have any mouth but he just knew that they were laughing at what a pathetic sight he was. Like a pig trying to stand up after falling on its back. Then, one of the hands that grabbed hold of him started clawing at him, and the rest of the hands followed suit. He screamed but no one heard him. No sound was heard from the outside because the darkness that had enveloped the room ate it. They _feast_ in the prospect of hearing screams of terror and pain. Percy himself didn't hear the guy, because he was too shocked at what had transpired in front of him, at what _he_ was capable of doing. He was so terrified he broke out of his stupor.

The moment he did so, the black mass that had appeared around the room disappeared, and his world promptly turned black.

 **.:-Prologue-:.**

 **AN: I have no excuse for that dark ending. I promise the next chapters won't be as dark. Percy won't be broody and gloomy 24/7. He'll still have his humor, sarcasm, and of course, his impertinence. Seeing as the sons of the Big Three all changed parents, this initially caused some complication for me because I still want the siblings of the same mortal parent to stay siblings. But I've come up with an acceptable solution so I don't think it will be a problem. I'll try my best to make them as in character as possible. Critics and reviews will be highly appreciated!**

 **Choppa, out.**

 **Kei: You don't know how much she delete and re-write some sentence, chill bro.**


	2. Chapter 01

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series**

 **AN: I have absolutely no excuse for taking so long to update. Also, I forgot to mention this but this fic does not have any Beta yet. In fact, I don't even know what Beta means -_- I'm still new here so it'll be very appreciated if anyone will explain it to me. Thanks ;w;**

 **I replied some of the reviews through PM, but I'll do it again here:**

 **DaughterofHadesBloodofPylos, Guest (1), PrideViola: Thank you very much!**

 **E.R Man: Thanks! Well, I'll be switching all the sons of the Big Three around. As for how the switch will go,** **you should visit mormoc . tumblr . com (remove spaces).** **Look at the cover of this fic! Her art made me want to write about this. It's absolutely wonderful and if you have a tumblr accound, you should follow her! As for the pairings,** **I'll be keeping this fic GEN for now.**

 **Guest (2): I'm glad you enjoy reading this! No need to worry about that, I have some things planned that i believe will work nicely for this AU. You're welcome, and thank** _ **you**_ **for reading ;w;**

 **Aligator: Yes, sir!**

 **NicercyPercico: You're welcome :3 And thank you for reading!**

 **The 6th Spectral King:** **Visit mormoc on tumblr** **and you'll see. I got this idea from her, and she did some comics from her head before i did this. I'll be taking some elements of this story from her art, but not all.**

 **I also changed my summary because I wasn't exactly satisfied with the previous one, so be sure to check it out and tell me what you think.**

 **Warning(s): I don't know the quality of my fight scene. Or if it's a fight scene at all.**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy.**

 **.:-Chapter 01-:.**

When he woke up, Percy was attacked with a revolting smell. He pushed himself from the ground with one of his hands covering his nose. _Why was I sleeping on the floor?_ he pondered. He turned around, ready to search for the source of smell, but the sight that greeted him made him threw up the contents of his stomach to the floor.

There, no more than five feet in front of him, laid the dead body of his mom decaying harshly in the summer heat.

Suddenly the memories of what happened before he collapsed rushed back to him. His chest tightened, his vision became blurry. He crawled towards his mom's body, mindful to not touch the puddle of mess he made on the floor.

"Mom?"

His voice cracked by the end, his breathing became ragged. As he got within distance of his mom, he cradled her head onto his lap. The stench of her rotting body hit his nose but he didn't care. All he could think of was the fact that his mom was gone. He's alone now.

Percy's eyes became warm and he willed himself to not let any tear fall from his eyes. He bit onto his lower lip to stop himself from making any sound. His shoulders shook from trying to keep his feelings inside. His mom always said that he was a strong boy, and strong boys could always keep their emotions in check, right?

But for once, his mom was wrong. Percy wasn't strong. He was _weak_.

He began to bawl. He cried out for his mom as uncontrollable tears kept falling from his eyes. He let everything out. He kept on wailing and weeping because it just wasn't _fair_.

All those times when he was avoided by his peers in school, when he was met with distrustful and disapproving looks from teachers, when Big Ugly started roughhousing him, he endured them all because he knew everything would be alright. His mom was the only source of happiness he ever needed.

But his mom, his source of happiness, died and suddenly he felt hollow inside.

Percy sat there and mourned for his mom for who knows how long. When he stopped crying his eyes were swollen, his voice was hoarse, and he felt emotionally drained. He stared at the wall in front of him with blank eyes. He didn't move. Didn't _want_ to move.

 _I should just sit here not move until i die,_ he thought. _Nothing,_ nobody _is waiting for me out there. I can die here and no one would care._

Because the only one who cared was dead.

As if the world heard his thoughts, one of the windows in his apartment shattered. What came in was a huge dog. And by huge, he meant _massive._

The dog was easily twice his size, with black fur and red eyes flashing dangerously, and those eyes were staring right at him.

Moments later the dog had made it's move towards him. This dog was doing him a favor. He didn't have to move and his "wish" would be fulfilled. _It's fine_ , he thought. _This is for the best_.

Only it wasn't.

He didn't want to die.

Before his own mind could process, his body had moved on its own. The moment the dog jumped at him he ducked and ran under the its huge body as fast as he could, making it create a hole on the wall behind where he previously sat.

The dog started to claw at the wall in an attempt to get its head out of the hole. It was only a matter of time before it broke free. He doubted he could run away from it, so he took one of Big Ugly's beer bottle and charged at the thing.

The impact between the bottle and the dog's side resulted with the bottle shattering to pieces, but it didn't even make a scratch. Instead, the action made it more aggressive and trash around violently to fasten the process of freeing itself.

 _This is bad_ , he thought, panicking. Then he remembered the thing his mom said she hid under her bed. The present from his dad.

He didn't know what's inside, but he had this feeling that it would help. So without hesitation he dashed to his mom's room. He locked the door as soon as he was inside in a vain attempt to stall the dog's eventual entry.

He laid down on the floor near the bed and started reaching for the box. He felt himself a little relieved when his hand met a solid object and he hastily pulled it out. It was definitely the box that his mom had described.

As soon as he held the box, he suddenly felt a wave of... completion wash over him. He just _knew_ that the object inside could help him. All he needed to do was open it.

There was just one problem.

He didn't know how to open it.

The box had no locks, no DNA scans (Because his mom said that the box can only be opened by him so the only think he could think of was that), not even a crack can be seen. The surface was as smooth as butter, though not as slippery.

He didn't even know what the box was made of so he couldn't think of any way to open it. He didn't want to smash the box open and risk damaging the object inside, so that's not an option.

So focused on the box he forgot about his pursuer. The door to the bedroom was broken down, along with parts of the wall surrounding it. It startled him, and suddenly he remembered the reason he wanted to open the box in the first place.

He tightened his grip on the box, a feeling of nauseating dread settled in his stomach. If he didn't have the object inside, he'd _die_.

Apparently, his desperation was, quite literally, the key. Because the moment he thought that the box caught on fire.

Could he even call it a fire though? The "fire" was colored black with some kind of gold-ish yellow tint. It didn't even feel like fire. It didn't burn him. Instead, it was as if he was dipping his hands into hot water in the middle of winter. It filled him with warmth.

The box disintegrated, and what was inside was a sword.

Any other time Percy would have gaped at the sheer impossibility of that, but now was not the time. He slid the sword out of its sheath and readied himself to defend from any attack from the dog. But, unexpectedly, it seemed to inch back a little when he got into a (what he hoped was) fighting stance. Its eyes reflected something that looked like... fear? He wasn't sure.

Just as soon as he noticed it, the look disappeared and was replaced with a more predatory look. Seemingly had learned its lesson from its previous attack, instead of leaping to him, it ran towards him, mouth opened threateningly while letting out a low growl. In the split second it took the dog to attack him, he did the only thing that came naturally.

Just as the dog was about to take a bite out of him, he thrust the sword towards its mouth. The sword hit its upper jaw and went straight through its skull with ease.

He didn't expect that, and the sword kept sliding forward until the crossguard hit the dog's upper jaw. Because of that, The dog's teeth dug into his unprotected arm.

He winced and hoped against all hope that it wouldn't bite his arm off. Fortunately, by the time it happened, The dog exploded into yellow dust, leaving him to stare at the now empty space in front of him in disbelief.

After a few moments of silence, he felt his legs fail him and he fell to the ground, sword clattering beside him. The adrenaline had left, and he was shaking all over. Now that the danger had left, he could finally think clearly of what had happened.

A huge dog came out of nowhere and proceeded to try and chew him. Through some miracle, he managed to kill the dog with a sword. He killed a dog _twice his size_ with a sword that appeared from _fire_.

Maybe he ate a poisonous mushroom on their camping trip and it made him hallucinate.

 _Nope,_ Percy thought while looking at his right arm which was covered in blood. _Definitely real._

He realized just sitting there and daydreaming wouldn't do him any good. He took a deep breath, but then winced. He didn't notice it before, but his chest hurt. He realized that his rib must have been cracked or something because of his impact with the door when Big Ugly kicked him.

There was little he could do about his rib, but he should at least treat his arm.

He stood up and went to the bathroom. Percy grabbed the first aid kit and a towel before making his way to the sink.

Percy turned the tap and wet the towel with water. Then he proceeded to clean up the blood on his arm. Thankfully the wound wasn't too deep and the bleeding had stopped. Next he pulled a bottle of disinfectant, poured some to a cotton, and disinfected his wound, wincing all the way.

He was kind of used to the occasional beating Big Ugly gave him, but that doesn't mean he's immune to pain or even a little sting.

After that, he got a roll of bandage from the kit and covered his wound with it, tying it up as he was done.

Now that Percy was done fixing himself, he pondered on what he should do. He saw no point in staying now that his mom was... dead.

He swallowed hard. Even thinking about it pained him, but he pushed on.

In a few days, the smell of rotting corpse would surely reach the noses of the neighbors, and he would either be pinned as a survivor or the perpetrator of the tragedy.

And as much as he wanted to give his mom a proper burial (He could care less about Big Ugly though), it would be highly probable that he'd end up in an orphanage after. And the idea of being restricted in an orphanage was highly unappealing. He'd rather sleep on the streets to be honest.

His head perked up at his own idea. That was exactly what he would do.

Resolve made, Percy walked back to the front door area to pick up the backpack he dropped to the ground before all those _that_ happened. He pointedly avoided looking at his mom's body because he was afraid if he saw her right now he would break down and cry again.

Percy picked up the bag and quickly made his way to his bedroom. He dropped the objects inside it to his bed carelessly. It mostly consisted of his clothes, already dirty from his camping trip. He went to his wardrobe and pick up some of his more practical clothes, but not too much.

His mom had taught him how to pack light, and when it was time for him to run, he didn't want to be burdened by too much weight on his back.

He changed into a fresh pair of clothing since the one he had worn had blood and was torn in some parts. He also put on his dark blue jacket. If he was going to live in the streets, he better get ready for any kind of weather, even if it was currently summer.

Next, he walked to his bed and laid down next to it. Just like when he was looking for the box under his mom's bed, but right now he was looking for his money jar.

He got it out from under the bed and spilled the money inside on the floor. As much as he'd like to bring the whole jar, he didn't want to add unnecessary burden to his bag. So he proceeded to sort through the money he had. He put the money inside his bag as soon as he was done.

Percy slung the bag and walked out of his room to re-enter his mom's room. He picked up the magical sword his dad left for him and, now that he had the time, inspected it.

It was entirely black from the tip of the blade to its grip. He also had a nagging feeling that there's something a bit _unnatural_ about it, but he didn't know what. _Still_ , he thought, _it's a really beautiful sword_.

He didn't know the qualifications of a beautiful sword, but if his sword entered a sword-only beauty pageant, he was pretty sure it would end up in the top five.

He slid his had down the smooth surface of the blade. When his hand reached the base of the blade, he noticed there was something carved on it.

It was written in a language he didn't recognize, but for some reason he knew what it meant.

Nightfall.

He stood there for another moment, mesmerized by the sword, before he slid it back into its sheath and slung it over one shoulder, so that it hung diagonally on his back.

With that done, he went to get out of the room again. But just a few steps from the door he paused for a while. He readied himself for what he was to come.

Percy stepped out of the room and towards where his mom's body was. He sat next to her body and grasped at her hand. Her hand, which used to be so warm, was now as cold as ice.

He didn't say anything. Not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't know what to say. So he sat in silence.

He really need to stop mourning and move forward.

He was weak, he knew. But that didn't mean he couldn't be strong. His mom said that he was strong, and now he knew it was a lie. For now.

He would make that lie become the truth.

As he got ready to stand up, his eyes turned back to his mom's hand one more time, and took in the sight of the ring placed on her finger. He got that feeling again, just like the one that told him that his dad's present would help him. This time, the feeling told him that he'd need to bring the ring with him.

She had worn that ring for as long as he could remember. One time he asked her who gave it to her, even though the answer should be obvious. "It was a present from your father," she answered, eyes pleading him to drop the subject, and he did.

He never asked her about it again.

Percy knew that it was really important to his mom, and it made him incredibly reluctant to take it away from her. But the feeling didn't fade away. In fact, it became harder to ignore.

So in reluctance, he began to slid the ring from her finger. "Sorry mom," he said with a grimace.

Percy inspected the ring in his hand. It was a silver ring with some kind of knot design, and in the middle of the knot was a black gem. He didn't know what it was called.

It also didn't fit his any of his fingers.

For now, he decided to just put it in his pocket.

 _Well, I guess I'm done here._

He stood up and made to walk to the door, but promptly faceplanted to the floor not a second later.

"Oomph!"

Percy turned to see what he tripped on and saw his mom's mountain bag along with her messenger bag. He suddenly remembered the black journal his mom had and decided to bring it with him also. He picked up the messenger bag and searched for the black journal. When he found it, it was alongside another journal, a brown one.

The brown journal looked like it had seen better days. Its cover was made of leather and was torn in some places. There was a strap by the side that kept the journal closed.

He had never seen his mom write in it, but from the looks of it, the journal had probably been with his mom for a long time.

He took both the black and the brown journal and put them in his bag.

 _Okay,_ now _I'm done._

He stood up and checked his surrounding first before taking slow steps towards the door. He opened it slowly and stuck his head out a little. It would be bad if the neighbors questioned why he was going out without his mom. Deeming the coast clear, he stepped outside and looked back inside one more time.

"Goodbye mom," he said forlornly.

He closed the door.

 **.:-Chapter 01-:.**

It took Percy one hour before he was chased by the police.

He had to admit though, it was mostly his fault.

One, he kind of forgot that he had a sword hanging on his back. It also didn't help that he had his hood up, which must have made him look suspicious instead of cool like he wanted.

And two, he walked into the busy streets instead of sticking to the back alleys like he should have done. Sure the alley had some suspicious characters lurking around, but he should have remembered that he would look like he belong there what with the weapon on his back.

Actually, no. This was Nightfall's fault.

It happened like this. He was walking down the streets minding his own business. He didn't notice it at first, but then he realized that the pedestrians were looking at him cautiously and avoiding him.

Percy opted to ignore it, but then a policeman approached him.

"Hey kid, mind if i take a look at your bat?"

 _Bat?_

"What bat?"

The policeman raised an eyebrow, "The one you've got on your back."

 _He's talking about my sword,_ he realized.

 _This person needs to have his eyes checked_.

Because how can someone mistook a sword for a bat?

Percy took a look at the policeman from under the shade of his hood. The man didn't seem to be playing with him, so he decided to play along and see what happens.

"Oh. Why do you want to 'have a look'?"

The policeman was silent for a while, probably contemplating on what he should tell him, before deciding, "Because from the looks of it, you're carrying a lethal weapon there, kid. What with it being spiked by nails."

Wait, what?

He glanced around him, seeing that some of the pedestrians were eavesdropping on their conversation. And from the looks of it, none of them find his sentence the least bit strange.

Why did everyone seem to think that he was carrying a spiked bat?

Apparently he was silent for too long, because now the policeman was looking at him with suspicion in his eyes.

 _This is not good. Definitely not good. Not good at all, nope._

The man didn't seem to catch him mentally hyperventilating though, and continued on.

"Look kid, how old are you? Eight? Nine? That bat of yours is not something kids your age should have. Hell, by law, _nobody_ should have that kind of bat."

"I'm just trying to help here, kid. Did someone gave you that bat? If that's the case, then I need you to come with me for some questioning. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. We're just trying to find the person who gave it to you. After that, we'll return you to your parents. Where are they, anyway?"

The man kept rambling on but Percy stopped listening the moment he said 'questioning'. Alarm bells rang in hi mind. He needed to get out of there.

Percy ran.

He could faintly hear the policeman cursing behind him, followed by heavy footsteps chasing after him.

Compared to an adult's legs, his was really short. But if anything, Percy was proud of his own speed.

He ducked into an alleyway and toppled a trashcan. The action gave him a few seconds to widen the gap between him and his pursuer. But that didn't mean he was in the save.

The policeman was hot on his heels. He needed to think of something or sooner or later he would get caught.

Percy kept running in between alleys, taking sharp turns in an attempt to fool the policeman, all the while praying that he wouldn't accidentally turned the wrong corner and ended up running towards a dead end.

After a while, an idea came to him. With ragged breath, Percy ran to the busy streets.

When he came to his destination, he took in the sight of the many people in the sidewalk with delight. It was packed with people going home from work or school, and it was _perfect_.

Percy could still hear the policeman behind him, shouting at him, telling him to stop.

If you were playing a game of tag, and the person who was 'it' yelled for you to stop, would you stop?

Of course not. Sometimes adults are just plain weird for not being able to answer such a simple question.

Percy didn't have the time to ponder about it anymore, because the policeman was getting too close for his comfort. He melded into the crowd, going against the current of bodies.

Unlike before, nobody gave him a second glance. None of them even took a look at him. Everyone was probably only thinking of getting home quickly and take a well deserved rest.

For once, Percy was really glad on how people usually became apathetic towards their surroundings when it didn't particularly concern them.

He slipped in between the people on the streets going the other way, which was a pretty easy feat considering his height (Or lack thereof).

But not so easy for someone the size of the policeman.

The policeman tried to keep his eyes trained on Percy while also going against the wave of people. He wasn't having much progress and in no time, the man lost sight of him.

As soon as Percy was sure the policeman wasn't able to follow him anymore, he slipped out of the crowd and into the nearest alleyway. He took a deep breath, winced (He forgot about his rib again), and exhaled slowly.

He had learned a valuable lesson today.

Never walk on a busy street with an optical-illusion sword on your back in the middle of the day.

Also, Percy: 1, Policeman: 0.

 **.:-Chapter 01-:.**

He was incredibly tired from all the running he did and it was getting dark. He decided to look for some place to sleep for the night.

From his spot on the entrance of the alleyway, he noticed a big trashcan a few feet away.

 _Found it_.

No, he's not going to sleep in the trashcan. He was homeless now, but he wasn't _that_ desperate (yet). He meant the other side of the trashcan. The alley was pretty tight, and the trashcan covered the other side just fine. So he could probably sleep there undisturbed.

Percy made his way there and sat by the trashcan. He propped Nightfall against the wall and put his bag between the trashcan and himself. He didn't want the two items to be stolen while he was sleeping.

He got himself comfortable and sighed.

 _Finally, I can relax_.

At least for a while.

Of course, he could do without the smell. But he would make due with what he had.

Percy sat in silence, waiting for sleep to take over him. He shifted around a bit, and heard a clinking sound coming from his pocket.

He remembered that he had a ring inside it, and reached inside his jacket's pocket. What he didn't expect though was to feel not only the ring inside, but also something else.

He pulled both objects out. One was the ring, the other turned out to be a chain necklace. Percy didn't know how it got into his pocket. He was sure that the only thing in his pocket when he left the apartment was the ring, and he didn't remember putting anything inside after that.

It was really convenient though. He combined the chain with the ring, and put the chain around his neck.

Well, now he wouldn't have to worry about the ring falling from his pocket.

After that, he dozed off and fell asleep in the darkness of the alleyway.

 **.:-Chapter 01-:.**

 **AN: Not bad for a first chapter right? Right.**

 **I really hope I got the description for the Hellhound right ._.**

 **I don't know what possessed me to write [** The surface was as smooth as butter, though not as slippery. **]. It's my attempt on being funny, though I think I failed. But I kinda like it so I'm keeping it.**

 **I'm not gonna tell any accurate number of money Percy brought with him unfortunately. Because I'm not sure how people spend their money in the US, just that everything there is hella expensive. 1 USD equals around 13k-14k IDR and wow that is definitely not cheap nuh uh.**

 **I mentioned something about law there, but tbh I don't even sure if it's true or not, since I've never once step foot in America. And I've never read any American law so just accept it as the truth in this AU 'kay ^w^;;**

 **Regarding the ring, you're free to imagine it however you like. But I guess my description must be to vague for any of you huh? ._. Well, I was trying (and failing) to describe this (remove the spaces and parenthesis):**

 **s d2 . gemvara (.net) / image-generator/ GVA-LDY-201/ LD/ 2/ SS-O/ 280/ round-black-onyx-sterling-silver-ring. jpg**

 **Alright! I think that's all for the end note. If you found any contradiction in my story, if you have any question, if you have ANY kind of message for me at all, feel free to tell me in the reviews.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 02

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series**

 **AN: I'M ALIVE! :D I'm so sorry for everyone who had been waiting for me to update. I'm not gonna lie, my nemesis had attacked me right after I finished the previous chapter. His name is PROCRASTINATION and I had fought a long and hard battle against him, but I lost :'( Eventualy i** _ **did**_ **wrote like half of this chapter a few weeks later but then came the end of term exams and holidays (in which I had zero inspiration for the story) and reintegrating myself into school again after the holidays. And then there's school work and blah blah blah, yanno, the usual reasons.**

 **And then a few hours ago I checked this fic again and saw the follows, favorites, and reviews you all left and thought to myself "I am a horribly selfish person to make these wonderful people wait" so I sit up from my position on the bed, turn on the laptop, and started writing.**

 **I started around 12 AM and as I'm writing this it's now a few minutes past 4 AM.**

 **So once again I'm very sorry for those of you who had to wait for so long for the update, and THANK YOU SO MUCH for sticking around. I'm not even finished with the beginning arc yet and already I made everyone wait. I'm a horrible person.**

 **Okay, answers for reviews:**

 **The 6th Spectral King: Were you referring to the law on spiked bats? If so, thank you for clearing things!**

 **PrideViola: Yep, it did. I'm trying to tame the darkness but they keep coming back *cries* and thank you for the encouragement!**

 **picnic990: Mostly it's kinda Hades' way on challenging Zeus. Like, the three of them made a pact to not have any demigod children. In canon, Hades had Bianca and Nico before the pact was made (right? Tbh the only PJO novel was the first one. Other infos i got from wiki, fanfics, and tumblr *le gasp* yeah, i know, preposterous). Technically, he didn't break that pact, but he felt like Zeus would ignore the technicalities, so he hid the two (if this wasn't what hapened, consider it my own personal hc). And also technically, the person who broke the pact first was Zeus, resulting in Thalia. Since he broke the pact first, not hiding Percy is like him daring Zeus to protest on Hades having a demigod child. Risky, I know. But hey, the demigods are already risking their lives anyway so why not more, right?**

 **Omega Alpha Hydra: I speculated as much as well, but i wanted a confirmation from another person. Thanks for clearing that!**

 **MemiSkyPirate: Here's the next chapter! Aww, thank you for the compliment, I'm really happy to hear (read) them :')**

 **Mintypoo: AND I'M A HOE FOR REVIEWS SO** **LEAVE REVIEWS PLZ**

 **DalhimWarrior66: I did? I guess my guessing game is on point +(-w- ) thank you very much! It's fine, thanks for pointing that out. I'll fix that. Later. Maybe.**

 **PaganWanderer: And thank you for reading!**

 **yetanothersilentread: YES I AM ORANG INDO HALO :DDD thanks so much for your compliments fellow Indonesian :))**

 **Guest (3), Guest (4), TheSilverDragon360, Ella: Thank you! And here's more!**

 **menikalu: Of course! Just be sure to send me the link when you publish it so I can mention it to the other Russian readers.**

 **Vanessa Masters: You bet he would. And yes, we all want to protect the precious cinnamon roll :(**

 **Warning(s): Mentions of abuse among other things.**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy.**

 **.:-Chapter 02-:.**

Percy woke up feeling oddly refreshed despite sleeping next to a trashcan.

The moment he woke up, he didn't move. He was confused as to why he was sleeping on hard concrete in a secluded alleyway next to a trashcan instead of on his perfectly comfortable bed in his not-so-perfect-much-less-comfortable apartment slash "home". Then he remembered that he doesn't exactly have a home anymore, much less a bed.

Percy stretched on his seat only to remember his injury. On reflex he paused his moves, hands in the air and all, expecting pain to come from his chest. Oddly, he couldn't feel any kind of stinging like the ones he had experienced just the other day. He pressed gently on his chest for good measure, but still nothing.

Weird.

Now that his head had cleared a little, he also noticed that his right arm didn't hurt anymore. Which was impossible, since even though the wound inflicted there wasn't too deep, it was a pretty big wound (really big dog equals really big teeth) and his arm had been throbbing the whole day yesterday. But now, he couldn't feel any pain from his right arm.

He unrolled the bandage, a little dirty from blood and some dirt from his game of tag with Mr. Policeman, expecting to see the gaping wound from yesterday. What he found was the wound, while still there, was considerably less hard to look at. And that's amazing since while thinking about his wound wouldn't make him throw up, it did make his stomach churn a little. Now his wound looked as if someone decided to paint his arm red in a circular motion, thought better of it, then cleaned the unfinished work with some water and rag before it dried off. Basically it now looked like a red circle.

Really weird.

He slumped back towards the wall and just sat there and stare. Although his body was feeling refreshed, he was still tired emotionally. Yesterday had been a roller coaster of emotion for him and it was all so _confusing_. He tried to make sense of what had happened yesterday.

Big Ugly... killed his mom.

He tried not to focus too much on that fact since if he did, he would probably end up brooding for the rest of his life and not accomplishing anything at all. If he ended up like that, his mom would have been very disappointed in him for not moving on.

Besides, he had had his own pity party the day before complete with gross sobbing so yeah, he's good for now.

That reminded him of the huge dog that attacked him.

At least, what he thought was a dog. He admit, he didn't manage to examine it carefully. In his defense, it _was_ trying to turn him into its chew toy. But now that he thought back on it, was it really a dog? The thing was insanely huge and he could have sworn there was some kind of black smoke coming out of and curling around it. He didn't know any dog like that. He certainly had never seen them on Nat Geo before (the few times he could get his hands on the remote without Big Ugly going crazy).

And then there's Nightfall.

First of all, wow. It had only sinked into his head just now that he was holding onto a sword. A real life, actual sword. He took Nightfall from its position against the wall and examined it thoroughly. The sheath was made of black leather and the tip of the sheath was made of some kind of metal, also black.

Percy slid the sword out of its sheath and couldn't help but gape, eyes wide with wonder. Although he had examined it shortly before he left his apartment, he still couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. From the tip of the sword to the bottom of the hilt, everything was black (he'd probably have problems finding it if he lost it in the dark). He traced his hands across the sword, fingers tracing over the weird squiggles that he somehow interpreted as "Nightfall". He played with the point of the sword, wanting to know how sharp it was. He ended up grazing his finger.

With a wince, he brought his finger to his mouth. Shouldn't have done that.

All in all, Nightfall looked like a normal sword, if insanely beautiful.

If not for the fact that it came from a black box which errupted into fiery black flames.

(He sensed a pattern here. His dad had an unhealthy obsession with the color black and should probably get that checked.)

He couldn't believe his dad gave him a magical sword. Nevermind that, he couldn't believe his dad gave him a _sword_ in the first place _._ Percy couldn't decide whether his dad was the worst dad (for giving Percy a _lethal weapon_ ) or the best dad (for giving _Percy_ a lethal weapon).

Proof that Nightfall was a magical sword was the fact that it somehow made everyone else see it as a bat. Because Nightfall is obviously a sword and he was a hundred percent sure of it.

Okay, maybe ninety-nine percent. Counting the fact that it's a _magical_ sword and you can never be perfectly sure about the magical.

Percy stood up from his seat on the ground and faced the exit of the alleyway. He dropped into a stance (like the ones he'd seen in movies. Also guided by the soft whispers in his head saying _lower your elbow_ and _too tense, relax_ ), sword in front of him. He did experimental swings with it, swinging it vertically and a few times diagonally (there wasn't enough room for him to swing horizontally). He kept going because it somehow felt natural and having a sword in his hands felt just _right_.

He finally stopped when the sun was high enough to hit his face. He squinted, annoyed and noticed how hot it was since he's still wearing his jacket and he was sweating buckets. He almost put down his sword so he could remove his hoodie, but then he finally realized the oddity that he had felt from Nightfall (aside from it deceiving other people's sense of sight). He positioned it so that the sunlight hit the sword.

The light didn't reflect off the sword.

Boom, _another_ proof that Nightfall was a magical sword.

Before Percy could go on another line of thought on why his sword is absolutely beautiful, a growl came from the area of his stomach.

He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything since he and his mom returned from their trip. With a sigh, he slipped Nightfall back into its sheath and proceeded to reach for his bag and look for some food only to remember another thing.

He didn't pack any food with him. He packed the things that would help him in the long run, but nothing that would help him survive right then and there.

He's an idiot.

 **.:-Chapter 02-:.**

At the moment he was sitting under a tree in a park near where his former apartment was located. The very same park where he had noticed the Old Lady in Leather that had followed and observed him a few years ago whenever he and his mom visited the park. He looked around a little and didn't spot anyone fitting the description. His shoulders slumped in relief. That old lady was not really at the top of the list of people he wanted to see right now.

He looked around the park a second time. The park was practically empty, save from him and the couple that was also sitting under a tree on the other side of the park. Probably due to the fact that it's still working hours for adults and kids rather spent their time relaxing indoors with the AC on rather than outdoors and be attacked by the heatwave of summer.

That's perfectly fine with him though. He could hide his belongings from prying eyes.

He looked back at the couple. They're looking at each other all googly-eyed.

Yuck.

Deeming them distracted enough to ignore him, he made his way deeper into the park. He stepped off the pavement and steppen on soil, kept on walking until he found the tree he was looking for.

He found the tree when he was around five year old and liked to run all over the place. His mom had brought him there and he kept running and running until he stepped on a patch of grass near a tree and found himself falling into a hole all the way to just above his hips. The fond smile on his mom's face turned into panic and she hastily made her way to the hole. After she got him out of the hole and calmed him down, she had explained that the hole had probably been a nest of small animals like rabbits.

Ever since then, whenever he visited the place, he never found any signs of animals coming and going out of the hole. So he had assumed that the hole had been abandoned and decided to claim it for himself.

The hole went deep into the bottom of the tree. He had used the hole to hide pretty little trinkets he often found somewhere or another, like the butterfly bracelet he had found on a pavement and the deck of playing cards that had been put on a bench in the park without signs of anyone owning it. He used to put them into a box and before putting the box inside the hole.

He soon discovered that putting it just like that wouldn't protect it from any rainwater that flows inside, so he found some rocks and stacked them high enough, then he put the box on top of the stack. Sometimes it worked, sometimes there was too much water and the box ended up getting soaked along with its insides.

But it was summer at the moment, which means there will hardly be any rainclouds in sight. He decided that he could hide his belongings here. Not only would he not have any weight on his back, he also wouldn't attract any attention because of Nightfall wherever he went.

Not having Nightfall on his person felt incredibly wrong and it's an unpleasant feeling, but he didn't have any choice. If only Nightfall's magical property included shapeshifting. He sighed, then reluctantly put Nightfall inside.

Alright, first order of business was getting food. He had temporarily taken care of his hunger by drinking lots of water from a drinking fountain in the park, but one could drink only water for so long before they drop. He wasn't too keen on the idea of stealing yet, although he knew that he had to resort to that sooner or later (his mother would be so ashamed of him, but she'd understand. Probably). He also didn't want to use what little money he had on him, since that's for Emergencies only, with a capital E, and this didn't count as one.

In the end, Percy decided to just walk around and pick up any leftover food he found that was clean enough for his stomach to agree. He was kinda used to eating Big Ugly's leftovers anyway so this kind of thing is not a big problem for him.

So he left the park and walked aimlessly on the road. Glancing left and right looking for food that had been left to rot by its wasteful owners.

The streets were more crowded since it was lunchtime and already he could spot a person done with her lunch. She was some kind of office worker, judging by her clothing and how her hair was tied up in a neat bun. He opted to just wait for her to leave the paperbag filled with leftover lunch on her seat and he'd take it when she walk away. But aparently she was one of those good citizens that threw away their trash to where it belongs, since she was making her way to the general area of the trashcan. Sure, he could just look for a new "prey" that left their food where they ate, saving him the embarassment of having to ask someone for their leftovers, but he was hungry and he could care less about being embarassed.

He hoped that Mrs. Office Lady would give it to him without firing too much questions. Maybe if he acted like an annoying brat she would hand over the paperbag without much fuss so he would leave quickly. With that in mind, he walked up to the lady before she could make it to the trashcan and tugged on the hem of her shirt.

Mrs. Office Lady turned to him, annoyed because she was interrupted from her objective, but then the annoyance turned into confusion the moment she caught sight of him, a nine year old boy, face covered in dirt, and wearing a jacket in the middle of summer. He didn't say, "Excuse me," or something like that since it would ruin the image he was trying to build as an annoying slash impudent kid.

"What is it?"

Right hand still on the shirt, Percy pointed his left on the paperbag, "I want that."

Confusion turned into incredulity, "This is my leftover lunch, you know?"

"I know. But I'm hungry so I don't care."

Office Lady was silent for a while, "Look, sweetie, where's your parents?"

"Dead," he answered flatly.

Well, his mom was, at least. He didn't know about his dad. Hopefully since she had pushed on a "touchy subject" as his mom would've put it, she'd drop it and just give him the bag already.

An awkward silence fell on the two. He was beginning to have doubts on his plan. Maybe he should've acted like a sweet and shy kid instead of a flippant one. Just when he was about to bail, Mrs. Office Lady reached inside her handbag and pulled out an unopened bottle of mineral water and gave it to him along with the paperbag.

Objective gained, he grinned, took the offered items, and ran, throwing a thanks back at her direction. She would probably not be at the same spot tomorrow so that he wouldn't be able to bother her for another leftover, but he's completely fine with that. There's plenty of fish in the sea, as they said.

 **.:-Chapter 02-:.**

For several days all he ate were leftovers, other than that one time a man dropped his bag of oranges and it rolled all over the place. He picked up all of them except for one which was hidden under some bushes. So after the man left Percy took the orange and savored the fresh flavor of fruit he likely wouldn't be able to taste for a while. There was also that time he asked for some bread from an old lady who was feeding some ducks on a pond. She ended up pulling out a brand new loaf of bread (a bit squished) from her handbag along with some candies and giving them to him. Old ladies are great.

Except for that one Old Lady in Leather.

He also had several close calls with the same Mr. Policeman from before. Even though he had put Nightfall away, apparently Mr. Policeman still recognized Percy. In the beginning he tried to approach Percy and talk to him, but he ran the moment Mr. Policeman got too close. The next meeting he tried talking from a distance, and it kinda worked for a while until he started questioning about his parents. Then he ran again. Third time, Mr. Policeman forego the questionings and went straight to catching him. It gave him quite a scare since he almost got caught with the "surprise attack", but like before, he managed to get away. So a point for him.

What he _hadn't_ done was take a bath in those several days. He had put away his jacket after his first "hunt" in hopes to lessen his sweating. It helped, but not by much. The most clean-up he had was washing his face and head in a water fountain or any clean water source.

He needed to do something other than looking for food and worrying about his personal hygiene. Right now he's alive, but he's not _living_. There's no purpose in his life if this keeps going. So there he was, sitting next to a trashcan, at the very spot he had spent his first night homeless, thinking long and hard about what he should do from then.

Nothing really came to mind.

Maybe he should read his mom's journals. It might give him some ideas on what to do. But it was getting late and his belongings are still hidden in his little trasure trove back in the park, which was a little ways away. He decided to do that tomorrow and rest there for the night.

The seclusion and privacy that was provided in that alleyway was somehow comforting for him. He was surprised no other homeless people had made themselves comfortable here first. He did, though. He found one of those cardboard boxes, unboxed it, and turned it into a makeshift bed which he put next to the trashcan (since it made a good cover from the mainstreet). Most nights he slept there, mindless of the trashcan next to him, because the complete darkness that covered him at night gave him a sense of protection.

It wasn't night yet though, and in turn that safe feeling hadn't enveloped him. He laid down on the cardboard, put his hand under his head as a makeshift pillow, and started to play with his mom's ring with his right hand.

Then he noticed something wrong about the ring. Before, it had a somewhat intricate design with knots and was more feminine, but now the design of the ring was more straightforward, like a ring originally designed for men.

First a shapeshifting sword, now a shapeshifting ring? Seriously, where did his dad even get these things?

His thoughts shifted to his dad. The man who left him while he was still in his mom's womb. Who left his mom when she needed him most.

Percy frowned. Why did he do that? Why did his dad left the woman he supposedly loved? Well, yeah, he probably had his reasons, but couldn't he have at least kept in contact with her? And what's with the presents? A magical sword and ring. Why did he gave them those? The sword helped him get rid of the huge monster dog from before. Did his dad knew that something like that would happen to him? He couldn't think of any other reason as to why his dad would give him a _sword_ of all things. And if he knew, the least he could've done was give a _warning_.

Then he could have known about his present sooner. He could have protected his mom from Big Ugly by threatening him with Nightfall. He wouldn't actually do anything to the guy, just maybe wave it in front of him, but maybe being threatened with a sword (or a bat in his point of view) would made him lay off on the abuse he'd done to him and his mom. But now his mom was-

He clenched the ring thightly. He ended up thinking about more 'maybe's and he could feel a spark of hatred, a feeling of betrayal, form in him. He let go of the ring, letting it fall to his chest. He relaxed his shoulders he didn't even realized had tensed.

He felt angry towards his dad for abandoning him and his mom. He wouldn't even be surprised of ihs dad had already forgotten about them. But Percy couldn't stop himself from hoping that maybe, wherever his dad was, he still cared for them. After all, he did left the sword for Percy to fight with and the ring to... well, he didn't know but maybe it was just a present for his mom. A magical one.

His head was forming lots of questions and he had a feeling that his dad would know the answers. He decided on his new objective.

He'll find his dad and demand answers to his questions. And maybe punch him a few times in the face for justified reasons obviously.

But he didn't know where to start. He didn't even know his dad's _name_ or what he looked like. Okay maybe he did know a bit of how his dad looked like with how his mom always compared the two of them but there's like a _million_ people with "pale skin, onyx eyes, and jet black hair".

And in the end it all came back to his mom journals. The black one he knew the contents, drawings of plants and wildlife and their characteristics, some recipes she got from her coleagues at work, stuff like that. What he was curious about was the brown one. That one ought to have some clues about his dad.

 _I'll head back to the park first thing tomorrow_ , he thought. Night had come and he could finally feel the comfort brought by the darkness. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 **.:-Chapter 02-:.**

Pardon his words, but _what the hell._

When Percy opened the brown journal he expected to find something simple like his dad's name or his work. You know, the usual. It took him awhile to read the journal with his dyslexia but in the end he did, indeed, find them. He didn't know what to expect but it sure wasn't this.

His dad was a god. To be precise, his dad was _Hades, greek god of the underworld_.

It was either true, or his mom was trying to pull a fast one on him. Like she was hoping he'd read it at some point and ask her whether or not it was true and then she'd be like "gotcha!".

He was hoping for the latter, but the former explained all the weird things that had happened to him recently. Like Nightfall the Magical Sword and the shapeshifting ring. And it _certainly_ explained why his mom liked to tell greek mythology to him as if they were real. They actually _were_ real. The proof was the huge dog- a _hellhound!_ \- that had appeared and tried to eat him.

He had believed in their existence before, of course. But merely believing and then getting an actual _proof_ was a different matter altogether.

Back to the topic at hand, greek mythology _wasn't_ a myth after all!

He was a child made from a human and a god, a demigod. He had often remarked on how being a demigod sounded cool, but his mom often got a sad look on her face and said that a demigods always led difficult lives. Being regalled as a hero sure didn't sound like a 'difficult life' to him.

But if being a demigod meant that he'd be chased around by monsters like the hellhound, he agreed that he rather be a normal person.

Reading his mom's journal sure cleared things up a bit, but it also brought dozens of new questions. Like was there any other demigod other than him? Where was Mount Olympus located? And the Underworld?

A sudden thought came to him. His mom had died... did that mean she moved on to the Underworld?

From what he remembered, the Underworld had three places a dead person could go to. Field of Judgement, Field of Asphodel, and Elysium. He didn't remember their exact description but he was pretty sure they were the equivalent of Christian Hell, Limbo, and Heaven respectively.

He'd bet all his money and the clothes on his back that his mom went to Elysium. Well, she had better be. It's the least his dad could've done for her. But he needed to make sure of it.

Guess a visit to the Underworld is in order. Not only to see his mom (in Elysium hopefully) but also to get his questions answered by his dad, Hades (refering to a mighty deity like him as _his dad_ felt so weird. It might take a while to get used to). Oh, and let's not forget, punch him in the face once or twice (mighty god he might be but still).

Easy to say, but he hadn't a clue where to go. Did he have to die first? Hopefully not. The greek heroes he knew didn't need to die to go to the Underworld, right? He didn't exactly remember, but since they lived to tell the tale, it must mean that they didn't die.

Then where was the entrance? Was it in as far as Greece? Or maybe it was some place nearer, like New York or Las Vegas. Maybe the entrance was in Hollywood?

... _Nah_.

He opened the brown journal again, hoping to find a clue on the whereabouts of the Underworld. After a while of slow reading, he hadn't found anything important. He fliped the pages until he reached the very end and some kind of business card dropped to the ground. He picked it up and then groaned. Whatever written on it was on cursive and he felt the urge to just rip the card to pieces. But it could be a clue so he sucked it up and tried his hardest to read the content.

In the end, he concluded that it was an address to someplace called Camp Half Blood in Long Island. Gee, wonder what that Half Blood implied.

Anyway, he got somewhere to start. He slipped the card back into the journal and put it inside his bag. He picked up his belonging and, not for the first time, lamented at the fact that Nightfall couldn't take a more inconspicious form.

With a sigh, he slung the sword over his shoulder and made his way out of the park. Halfway there, he felt someone grab his arm. Thinking that it was Mr. Policeman succeeding in catching him off guard, he started trashing against the hold.

"Whoa there, kid, calm down," a female voice said.

Percy realized it wasn't Mr. Policeman, so he finally took a god look of the person who approached him. A woman, with a man, probably her boyfriend, standing next to her. He didn't recognize them, but they did look vaguely familiar.

The woman started, "We saw you here a few days ago-"

Percy remembered the couple from before. The ones who did the googly eyes. _Oh, them._

"-and we felt a bit concerned. You were here alone now just like before, and you don't seem to have changed your clothes either-"

 _Wow, way to make me concern myself on my personal hygiene again._ Just when he was starting to forget about it too.

"-so we were wondering, are you lost by any chance? Are you from outside the area and can't find your way back to the hotel? It must have been _days_ since we saw you and you're still here. Didn't you try to get help from the police? Or we can help you find your way instead. Besides, it's dangerous for kids to walk around alone, especially with that sword-"

Percy was getting quite fed up with her rambling until she got to that part. Then he became alarmed. This woman didn't see a bat, she saw a _sword._ The boyfriend probably saw his alarmed face, because then he smacked the woman on the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

The boyfriend growled, more like an animal than how a normal person would usually do, "You messed up."

The woman then turned to look at Percy and then realized that he did, in fact, grew wary of her. Then she grinned so wide, her previously perfect teeth all turned sharp and menacing, "Oh well, not that it matters."

His head was screaming at him to _run away_ but the woman- _monster_ \- had a death grip on his hand. So he did the second best thing. He slid his sword out of its sheath and sliced off the hand that was holding onto him.

She screamed, and suddenly her form shifted. She had flaming head, and legs that was half donkey, half metal. While the boyfriend had turned into somekind of human-headed lion with a thorny tail.

This was too terrifying. He wanted to cry, wanted to run.

So he ran.

He turned tail and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The two monsters took after him, screaming. He had planned to run towards the crowded streets, so that he could lose them like how he lost Mr. Policeman a few days ago, but with a sinking feeling he realized that he'd end up endangering _innocents_ instead. So he changed his direction to the back alleys. The monsters followed.

He ran as hard as he could, his heart was beating hard in his chest, his breating erratic. he wanted to stop but he did he'd _die_ so he kept running. He could still hear the sounds of those monsters chasing him. He needed to find a way to lose them.

He rounded a corner and found several metal barrels, some had their lids off. Without thinking thinks through (he didn't have the _time_ to think things through) he jumped inside one of the barred and closed the lid. In the complete darkness of the barrel he tried to control his breathing and prayed to any god listening, prayed to his dad, to not _let them find me please don't let them find me please-_

He could hear the sound of the two monsters running, approaching the barrels. He could feel his stomach drop and he felt tears form in his eyes, but then the sounds grew far away. He thought it meant that they had run straight across instead of checking on the barrels. He wanted to check, but he didn't want to risk it. So he stayed in there for a while. He tried to calm himself down and managed to do so. He felt so drained. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 **.:-Chapter 02-:.**

 **Should I keep this fic curse free or not? Because I had the urge to curse some but was afraid the majority of you would hate them so I refrained from making any. But I don't think I'll last long... What do you think?**

 **This fic is un-beta-ed and will probably stay that way for a while because of reasons.**

 **In the prologue I said that I'll try to keep the characters IN character, but since some characters would have totally different background i can't see it happening in some cases. So yeah sorry.**

 **Percy's a 9 y.o. but his way of thinking is way advanced and it's unrealistic I know. But i tried writing on how i** _ **thought**_ **a child's mind would go, but couldn't go on without the fic becomeing, well, lame. I tried my best but yeah, still way too advanced thinking for a 9 y.o.**

 **Yes, Percy has an unhealthy obsession with Nightfall.**

 **So I finished MCGA a while ago (Bit of spoiler here. Ignore this paragraph to avoid that) and I gotta say I love Jack. Do you think I should make Nightfall be able to talk like him too? It's tempting.**

 **There** _ **are**_ **drinking fountains in NY, right? Bcs there's certainly none where I'm in right now.**

 **I don't know if I'm describing the life of a homeless person (child) correctly. Probably not. So I apologize in advance.**

 **The new image of the ring (delete spaces and , well, dots):**

 **Black-Onyx-Rocker-Mens-Rings-p /**

 **Alright, that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and review plz bcs I love reviews.**

 **Choppa, out.**


	4. Chapter 03

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO Series.**

 **AN: "YO MISS AUTHOR IS THIS HALF-YEAR UPDATE GONNA BE A REGULAR THING FOR YOU?"**

 **To be honest? I don't know. Had the story in my mind but whenever I opened my laptop I suddenly don't know how to write. Hence the (** _ **very**_ **)** __ **slow writing -_-**

 **Actually, I kinda word-vomit for the last week because of a certain review I got in my email. Which was like a slap to the face for me that caused me to laugh and snap me out of my writing-not-writing state.**

 **I'm giving a genuine thanks to dl-o-lb here. You managed what my best friend couldn't (she tried. I was just being lazy and a jerk) and that was virtually bitchslapping me to** _ **get to work**_ **(which I appreciate so much).**

 **Please note that I'm saying all this in a light mood so If you think I'm angry at you, I'm not. You, all the readers I mean, have the right to be upset at me for this lmao. But honestly speaking you probably can't change how I write and when I update, so sorry for having to put up with all this ( - w - ;)**

 **Anyways, on to the reviews!**

 **LegacyOfIris: Lol, can't do that since I need him to be around nine or ten. You'll know the reason soon ;) And yep,** **It's gonna have curse words in this one, but not from Percy (yet).**

 **Athena128, GuessWHAT, Guest (7), Guest (8): Thank you! Enjoy this chapter :)**

 **Vanessa Masters: He really just sleeps wherever convenient lol. I'm so glad to see that you're enjoying the story! I hope you'll stay for more and not abandon this fic because of my** **incompetence** **:')**

 **Guest (5): I will keep them rolling m8, but probably not as fast as you'd hoped :') Thank you!**

 **The Trainer Grimm: He will, soon. And the couple was actually monsters in disguise. Thank you for liking this story, I feel so happy hearing that :D**

 **yetanothersilentreader: YES I AM ALIVE and yes that's completely understandable considering how long** **I** **'ve kept you waiting (; w ; ) THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT IT GIVES ME SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN MY WRITING SKILLS! And yes kasian Percy-nya ga ada ortu, ga ada rumah juga :(**

 **Omega Alpha Hydra: He will curse soon and when that happens people might get angry but they'll have to deal with it +(- w - ) I'm still juggling on the case with talking Nightfall. I'll ponder about it some more.**

 **A Samhildanach: Thank you so much! Wow, I didn't know Ender was like that in the novel. Kinda curious now, so I might read it sometime. Yeah I liked that part also xD Regarding the tenses, you have to excuse me on that. I'm not a native speaker and sometimes I got confused on what tense I should use... Anyway, sorry for making you wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Jewel5189: I might just take you up on that offer, if your offer still stands. I also needed an American to tell me about anything USA-related anyway lol. Though it might take a while before you hear from me regarding the next chapter. Anyway if it still stands, just PM me** **'** **kay** **y** **.**

 **ReconstructWriter: OMFG YOUR REVIEW IS SO HELPFUL I LOVE YOU. Yeah, I also agree on how standoff-ish, I guess, Percy was about that in chapter 2. I guess I was too rushing it, so I didn't put the character's feelings into it more? I don't know. I might edit it later on, but maybe not in the near future (bcs I'm such a lazy person).**

 **On the cursing part, yeah I was thinking along that lines actually. It's illogical to think that a nine year old will curse like a sailor, unless they've been exposed to it without filter. But Percy had Sally, who would have chastised him if he** _ **did**_ **curse (bcs he heard Gabe do it a lot), so I don't plan on making him curse** _ **yet**_ **. But his newest environment definitely won't be so filtered now,** **will** **it?**

 **I was planning on gradually make this fic a more lighthearted one (somehow) in later chapters. We'll see if I can go on with that plan.**

 **You definitely live up to your penname. I hope against all hope you'll do the same towards this chapter and all future ones. Thank you!**

 **Guest (6): Thank you so much ( ; w ; ) I'm sorry you've had to wait** _ **again**_ **for an update. Wait no longer, because it's here!**

 **SvalbardGirl: Thank you!** **The idea didn't come from me. I actually discovered it from tumblr (mormoc's site. Pay a visit! She does very beautiful arts, PJO included) and asked if I could write a story based in it, and was allowed.** **It can safely be said that Percy will be coming to CHB, but really for the time being I'm not going to pair him up with anyone. Mainly because I'm absolute shit at writing romance and if I do try I'm sure it'll turn into one of those sappy romance that you can guess the ending lmao.**

 **That's some idea to chew on. I was wondering on what I should do anyway, so thanks for the input! Sorry for making you wait for so long (5 MONTHS LMAO).**

 **dl-o-lb: Yes I was dead for 5 months lol. So enjoy this. I appreciate your sass towards me btw lol.** **Told my best friend about it and she said "serves you right" lmao.**

 **READ TO AVOID CONFUSION** **: Before moving on to the fic, I need to clarify a thing. So you know that back part of trucks that carries things? Yeah, that. Well I don't know what it's called in English so I decided to call it a trailer. Yeah. Is this important? Probably not. Just felt the need to clear it up now. It'll be helpful if someone tells me what it's called later in the review lmao**

 **I NEED BETA.** **But before you offer yourselves, you need to be aware that I'm a little reluctant. Considering my irregular writing time and all that, if you** _ **do**_ **become my beta you might end up waiting for a** _ **long**_ **time for my chapter. And I really don't like to make someone, who I asked help from, wait so long. This goes to both Jewel5189 (who I've referred above) and MemiSkyPirate (who PM-ed me almost a year ago but I have yet to reply. I'm so sorry) who had offered to be my beta reader. I appreciate your offers, but you really need to think this through because I can and probably will be annoying to deal with.**

 **Well, if anyone actually decided to become my beta reader even after that warning, just PM me and we'll discuss the details later.**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

Michael Thompson, or Mike as his coworkers liked to call him, was an ordinary 30 year old man. He had an ordinary name, an ordinary face, came from an ordinary family, the list went on. Every day he got up sluggishly from the sound of the alarm, made himself a cup of horrible coffee (because he couldn't, for the life of him, make a descent one), _actually_ woke up after a few minutes of standing in the middle of the kitchen dozing off, and got ready for work. When his job's done he went back to his dingy apartment where he'd sit down on the couch and watch the news with the noise of the neighbor's crying baby in the background. When it gets late he slept, woke up, and repeat.

But while Mike was an ordinary man, you couldn't say the place he worked at was ordinary in the slightest.

He worked as a courier in a no-name delivery company, so he usually went around delivering things for anyone who hires them.

But occasionally, he and some select few from The Company deliver things that are more in the... shady category.

Yes, his seemingly tiny and insignificant work place was actually pretty well off in the background. It was how The Company managed to stand on its own feet even though sometimes there wouldn't be any shipping requests coming in for several days.

No, Mike does _not_ enjoy this job. When he first applied for the job he thought it'd just be another run-of-the-mill job. But just a few months into the job and he realized that The Company had tricked him into doing the dirty works for them and making quitting impossible for him, due to his already deep involvement.

There's no way The Company's "loyal customers" will let the possibility of any kind of information leak happen.

Between keeping the job and possible russian roulette with six out of six bullets loaded, he opted to stay.

Besides, even if his life isn't on the line, jobs are still difficult to find. You have to go to so many interviews and your chance of actually getting in is slim. It was the reason why he, who had actually gotten a degree in automotive maintenance, ended up working in this delivery company in the first place.

The workshops he tried to apply to had no need of an extra mechanic, and although he would love to start his own workshop, he didn't exactly have the fund. He spent all his money (and then some) on college tuition.

Plus, he had to take care of his mother who's hospitalized. When he realized that he was caught in the spider web The Company had created, they had given him an offer. They will help him pay off his mother's hospital bills in addition to his normal earnings in exchange for his cooperation in handling "additional jobs".

In the end, it wasn't as if he had any choice, so he agreed.

The "jobs" usually entailed delivering goods to a certain place at a certain time. Most of the times the goods are drugs, but there's the occasional illegal weapons here and there.

They were first wrapped tightly in plastic and were then taped inside several metal barrels, at the bottom. Then black petroleum oil were poured into the barrels, hiding the goods inside. Of course, this might not work if there's some kind of detector, but so long as there's no random inspection it should be fine.

Where did they get so many petroleum to hide the drugs? The only thing he could say is that The Company had _really_ generous sponsors.

This time he'd been tasked to get some drugs from some people in New York and deliver them to the main office in San Francisco to be distributed again at a later time.

At the moment he's on his way back to San Francisco. Just him, his truck, and a dozen barrels of petroleum-covered drugs.

He had just reached the border between Pennsylvania and Ohio when the truck got shaken by some bumps on the road. He heard the unmistakable sound of a barrel falling in the back and cursed.

"Shit," it'll get messy if a barrel falls and spill petroleum everywhere. Might invite unnecessary guests. He parked the truck on the side of the road and then checked on the barrels.

He saw that there's no oil leaking from the back of the trailer so he assumed that it's save for now. He still had to check on the barrels though. So he opened the door connecting to the inside of the trailer.

What he saw inside was a barrel that fell, along with its lid off. And a kid. A fucking kid who still had half his body inside the barrel. What the fuck was a kid doing here?

"Oh fuck this job sideways," did they do child trafficking now?! What the actual fuck. This was _not_ in his job description. He got inside and went to the kid. He couldn't be older than 10!

"Hey, kid, wake up." Mike tried to wake him up. No luck.

Although he _very strongly disapprove_ of this, it's not as if he had a choice. If this was child trafficking, he couldn't do anything about it. Reporting it was borderline idiotic (he dealt with _drugs_ for God's sake. Chances are instead of helping the kid, he'd get arrested instead). Letting the kid escape would result in The Company being displeased with him. And considering that his mother's life is in The Company's hands, he's got no choice.

Between his mother and some random kid, it's no brainer who he'd pick.

Still, he's _not_ putting the kid back in the barrel. He picked up the kid (who still hadn't woken up yet. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest Mike would've thought he was dead) and got down from the trailer. He closed the door and locked it with some difficulty before putting the boy on the passenger's seat next to the driver's seat at the front of the truck.

After all that was done he got in the truck and proceeded to lock both the door and window, a precaution in case the kid wakes up and tries to escape.

On second thought, he also put on the kid's seatbelt. Not only to prevent him from falling, but also because the slot was actually a bit jammed and difficult to remove.

Mike started the engine and continued on his merry way. After a while he sighed. He did not sign up for this.

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

Percy opened his eyes and found himself leaning his forehead against the window of a vehicle. His first thought was, _the scenery is pretty._ His second thought was, _why is the world moving?_

And finally, _wait, where am I?_

The memories of before he fell unconscious came back to him. He began to panic. He was in a truck. Why was he in a truck? Was he kidnapped? He _was_ kidnapped! He had to get out of here.

He began to work with the seatbelt which _wouldn't. freaking. detach._

That was when the man next to him realized that he was awake. "Glad to see you return to the world of the living, kid."

Percy, who couldn't get the seatbelt to let him free, tried to distance himself from the unidentified man as far as possible, which didn't do much to be honest.

Was he a monster? No, if he was Percy would be dead by now. Then who was he? Kidnapper, obviously!

The man, who he's gonna dub Mr. Kidnapper for the time being, seemed to sense his distress, since he said, "Relax, kid. I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Percy wasn't gonna start believing him. Mr. Kidnapper reached for something in his pocket with slight difficulty and pulled out a candy. He gave an offering look, which Percy just stared at with a distrusting look. A kidnapper giving his victim candy. Hell no.

Mr. Kidnapper looked a bit disappointed, but maybe he already expected the reply so he just shrugged and put the candy somewhere more accessible.

Several minutes passed in awkward silence. The only sound was that of the radio playing a song he had heard several times before.

" _I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want, so tell me what you want, what you really really want."_

"What I 'really really want' is getting out of here..." Percy mumbled.

"Well, for starters, how about you tell me how you ended up in that situation?"

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

The kid jumped on his seat. He probably didn't expect Mike to hear him.

Mike clarified his question, "Wanna tell me why I found you unconsious inside one of the barrels I'm delivering, kid?"

Kid took a long time before blurting out, "I was just, you know, uhh, taking a nap."

Mike couldn't help himself. He laughed. Even an infant would know that was a lie!

(Unbeknownst to Mike, it's not as if Percy could just say he was being chased by a cyborg-donkey lady and a lion-man, could he? That'd just prompt a trip to the mental ward.)

He could see the boy blushing from the corner of his eye. The boy knew that Mike knew that it was a lie and was probably embarrassed for giving such an obvious lie, so he tried to cheer him up. "You'll do better next time, kid," he said in an amused tone.

He wouldn't pry if the kid didn't want to tell him. But there's just one thing he needed to ask...

"Just to make sure, were you... kidnapped?"

"Well, aren't you kidnapping me right now?" was the reply he got, laced with confusion.

He hit the brakes. Hard.

 _SCREEEEEECH_

The boy looked startled at the sudden brake. If he hadn't been using the seatbelt he would've been sent flying.

"No! I would never kidnap anyone!"

He was met with an incredulous stare.

"Uhh..." the kid gestured to himself.

Mike blushed, "Oh, well, yes I guess this can be called kidnapping... but it wasn't as if I did it purposefully, alright!?" He thought The Company was the one responsible!

"How can you accidentally kidnap someone?"

"Some kid just slept inside a barrel you were tasked to deliver to another city. I'd call that accidental kidnapping."

"Well, if you put it like that..."

Silence. After a while, Mike sighed. This was getting complicated. "Nevermind that. So you weren't forced to enter that barrel?"

(Well technically Percy _was_ forced to go in it to hide, unless he wanted to be monster food. But his gut feeling was telling him to not say that so...)

The kid replied with a simple, "No."

Mike let out a relieved sigh. Good, so The Company's not moving to child trafficking. He could deal with that. "Okay. That's fine. Sorry kid, I just got mixed signals there. So you didn't know that the barrel was gonna be moved?"

"Yeah. I was just looking for someplace to hide."

Mike raised an eyebrow, "Hide? Not nap?"

Now the kid looked nervous, "That's what I said."

Well, he already promised himself he wouldn't pry, so he didn't. Though he did raise an eyebrow.

So far, he concluded that the kid wasn't actually a part of the _goods_ he was supposed to deliver, but from the kid's perspective only. He needed to confirm with The Company.

But the question is, if the kid really was an unexpected cargo, how would he ask The Company without them discovering the kid's existence?

Uhh.

Oh wait, he had an idea.

"One sec, kid. Gotta make a phone call."

He got off the truck and walked to the door of the trailer. He opened it and counted the barrels in there. Thirteen barrels, one of which was the one that the kid was hiding in.

Wait, thirteen? He was pretty sure there were only twelve when he first had them loaded into the truck.

He pulled out his phone and dialled Dianne, one of the several people in position of power inside The Company and his close friend when he had been in high school.

Who was also the one who dragged him into this mess. Thanks Dianne.

After several rings, Dianne picked up the line, _"What's up, Mike?"_

"Hey, Dianne. Nothing big, really. Just wanted to confirm on the number of 'oils' I have to deliver."

" _That's rare. Why'd you ask? Usually you don't bother with any of that."_

He sweated, "Yeah, remember how the guys I picked these things up from are pretty new? I'm just trying to make sure they're holding on to their end of the deal, since they might think they can con us."

" _Why? It's not as if you care, right?"_

That's right, he didn't care at all. And she knew it better than anyone else since he complained about the job to her every time.

"That's true, but it's not as if I want The Company to be upset, you know what I mean?"

" _Yeah, I know_ exactly _what you mean, Mike. Alright, gimme a sec to check on it."_

He heard some rustling sounds and papers being flipped through.

" _Ah, here it is. Seems like they promised us twelve barrels. How much did you get?"_

Twelve. So he counted right the first time. Then how did the kid's barrel get in his truck?

" _Mike? Hello? You there?"_

He'd think about the answer later.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was counting them again."

" _So? How many barrels are there?"_

"Twelve, just as promised. Seems like they still had some brains in them."

Dianne laughed, _"Well this might mean that they can be trusted for the time being. That's done, is there anything else you need from me, Mike?"_

"Nah, thanks Dianne."

" _Anytime."_ The line went off.

Mike felt the tension he had on him disappear. He's now a hundred percent sure the kid's not cargo. The question is what he should do to the kid now. He really couldn't turn back and drop the kid back in New York. Maybe he'd just drop him off at the next police station he came across?

Not a solid plan but what else could he do?

He locked the trailer and went back to the driver's seat. Apparently the kid had been trying to set himself free, to no avail. That seatbelt is amazing.

He started the engine again. He delayed the journey long enough already.

"So kid, let's just cut to the chase. Just so you know, my truck is currently headed to San Francisco and as much as I want to return you to New York, I can't considering I'm on a deadline. So I'm just gonna drop you off at the nearest police office, okay?"

"No!"

What?

"No? What do you mean, no? Don't you wanna go back and return to your family and friends?"

"My parents are in The Underworld and I don't have friends."

The kid said that so easily he needed a few seconds to process the fact that the kid's parents are dead and he's friendless.

"I'm... sorry for your loss, kid."

But why did he say that his parents are in the underworld? Did he mean hell? Whatever. Not his business.

There was a bit of silence before the kid answered, "It's fine now. Kinda." He said that, but his voice went a bit shaky.

"Don't you at least have a home to return to?"

"Nope."

Again, the kid said it so nonchalantly, as if living in the streets at such a young age was _no big deal_. He needed to somehow help this kid.

As if reading his mind, the kid said, "Please don't send me to the police _or_ child service."

"Why shouldn't I? You obviously need help, kid. And they can provide you that."

The kid replied quickly, "It's just that, uh, I kinda found some clues to the whereabouts of my relatives on my dad's side. And I, uh, couldn't find them if I'm put in the _orphanage_."

He put so much emphasis on the word 'orphanage' Mike immediately knew that the kid just didn't want to be sent to one.

"But the police can help you found those 'relatives' of yours, you know?"

The kid answered with a deadpanned voice, "They're not those who can be found by the usual police."

Since they're hidden from people without The Sight. But Mike didn't know that yet.

Instead, Mike thought that, by "couldn't be found by the usual police", the kid was saying that his 'relatives' are one of those 'underground' people. The ones who do crimes and manage to hide in the background since they had enough resources to avoid the police.

Which explained the kid's reluctance to go to the police.

And while Mike really, _really_ don't wanna get involved any longer, he couldn't find it in him to bring the kid to the police anymore. It'd feel as if he was throwing the kid into a lion's den.

Mike glanced at the kid's face. All color had drained from his face, as if the police was his worst nightmare. The sight made him feel sick in his stomach. He sighed.

Curse him and his sympathetic self.

He guessed that he could only take the kid to his place for now.

"If that's really the case, kid, then I have no choice but to actually kidnap you now."

He could practically hear the relief in his voice, "That's fine. So long as we're not going to the police. Or child services."

What kind of kid would think getting kidnapped is better than getting help? This one, apparently.

"You're insane, kid."

Kid had the gall to grin, "I'm really not."

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

Mr. Kidnapper introduced himself as Mike ("And just Mike. No need to add Mr. at the front). No full name or anything. That was perfectly fine with him.

His gut told him that this man could be trusted, so he had no qualms in giving his nickname at least. But he was still wary.

Mike told him that they were still somewhere in Ohio, and it'd take at least two more days to reach their destination, which was San Francisco.

It was kinda awkward in the first three hours of the ride, with none of them uttering a sound. He, personally, was fine with it. He was appreciating the scenery, because it was the first time he went somewhere Not New York.

Although he did get distracted after a while. His ADHD kicked in and he started fidgeting on his seat.

Mike noticed this and then stopped the truck. He got off for a while and returned with an ice cream in each hands, one vanilla, one bubblegum.

"Thought this might cheer you up."

It was at that moment Percy decided that Mike was a pretty cool guy.

"Which one would you prefer? I bought the bubblegum one because my friend's son liked it, and since the both of you looked the same age I thought you might like it too. But you can have the vanilla one if you want."

He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. "Thanks, Mike!" he said, and took the bubblegum one.

Mike looked relieved. They continued the journey with a slightly lighter mood between them. They made some small talk, and while enjoying his ice cream, Percy learned a thing or two about Mike. Apparently he worked in a delivery company and was living alone in an apartment in San Francisco.

Mike had also been trying to learn some things about Percy.

"So, Percy, when's your birthday?"

"Oh, it's the eighteenth of Aug-" he stopped suddenly.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten. That horrible (so cruel, so dreadful,so _repulsive_ ) day when Big Ugly striked down his mom. It was his _birthday._ They had planned on baking a blue cake together and celebrate together and it was supposed to be the _best day ever_.

But instead, he ended up losing the most precious person to him on his special day.

Suddenly he couldn't contain his feelings anymore. His hand went slack and his ice cream fell, but he didn't care. All he could feel at the moment was _grief_. At the back of his mind he noticed that Mike had started panicking, asking him what's wrong, but he could care less.

He began to cry. His mom was only one person, but that moment when she was gone felt as if he was just robbed of his whole world.

They were both so excited that day. Percy was so happy he could spend another birthday with his mom. While his mom watched him and his excitement. She had that look on her face that just screamed _happiness_. It was as if she was so grateful of his existence.

Him, the troublemaker, the kid with ADHD, the kid who couldn't read.

He had been unsure of himself at that moment. Why would his mom be grateful with such a _broken_ son like him? She deserved better.

His mom hugged him and said that he was wonderful just the way he was.

She had promised to buy him a birthday present another day, but to be honest those words were enough to be his present for all his life.

But then, as soon as that joyful moment appeared, it was gone the second he opened the door leading to their apartment.

He started calling out for his mom, in between sobbing and hitched breathing. At that point Mike seemed to realize that he wouldn't be much help, so he decided to let Percy let it all go.

After a while the heavy crying lessened into sobs, and by the end of it he suddenly felt drained. He had promised he wouldn't cry anymore, but he couldn't help it. The pain was just still too _raw_ for him to ignore for long.

Although he was tired, he didn't feel like sleeping just yet. He ended up staring blankly at the darkening scenery in front of him.

Suddenly he found a water bottle shoved up his face.

"You need to stay hydrated, kid."

He suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone. He felt embarrassed for crying in front of a stranger.

He took the bottle, "... Thanks. And, uh, sorry."

The man waved him off, "What, the ice cream? It can be cleaned later, so don't worry."

"That's... not what I meant."

Mike raised an eyebrow, "What else could you mean? There's nothing else worth apologizing other than that, kid."

The man had such a roundabout way of telling him not to apologize for crying, but Percy really appreciated that.

Percy drank the water he was given. Suddenly he remembered something and choked.

Mike looked worried at that, "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah" - _cough_ \- "I'm okay." - _cough, cough_ \- "Ahem. Anyway, Mike, have you seen my belongings?"

He seemed to be remembering something, "Well, I wasn't paying attention, but it might be in the barrel you were in. Do you want me to get it for you?"

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure."

Mike parked the truck at the side of the road and they both got down (they had some difficulty getting Percy out of the seatbelt. In the end they decided to just pull the seatbelt until it was loose enough so that Percy could step over it. Percy felt so stupid for not thinking of that earlier when he had tried to escape). He opened the trailer's door and let Percy retrieve his things. It was dark, but he managed to locate it anyway.

He got his bag and his beloved Nightfall and got out of the trailer.

"Whoa, what's with the spiked bat?"

He totally forgot about that. He needed to think of a good lie fast.

"It was a present from my dad." There. Technically he didn't lie so it came out easier than he had expected.

Mike looked incredulous, "Your dad gave you a _spiked bat_ as a present?"

Well that did sound ridiculous. "Uh, no! He just gave me the bat. Someone else, uh, he hammered the nails on it. But I still liked the, uh, bat so I carry it around with me even though I couldn't use it."

Mike just hummed in reply. Percy took that as a good sign.

Nice save, Percy.

They returned to their seats and continued with their journey.

Though not long after, Percy's stomach started to complain. He realized he hadn't eaten anything since he accidentally left New York.

"Let's stop at that diner there."

He felt so bad for being such an inconvenience. Not only did he cried in front of him, he's also leeching off of him.

It was all because he was so stubborn on not wanting to go to the police. But he honestly didn't feel as if an encounter with the police would be good.

There's the fact that the police probably already knew by now that he's a missing child and if they found him he'd definitely be sent to an orphanage. Also that his mom and Big Ugly died and he's the only one out of the family who's missing. It might raise some questions which he doubt he could answer truthfully.

In short, he couldn't get caught.

So for now, all he could do was swallow this uncomfortable feeling of being a burden.

"I'll pay you back some day, Mike."

He just ruffled his hair, "Don't sweat it, kid."

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

They stopped at a cheap motel to rest for the night. Mike got them a room with one single bed and a sofa. As soon as the door was opened Percy took off his shoes and jumped on the sofa.

He knew what Mike was thinking. Mike was planning to give him the bed. Well too bad for him, Percy was not moving from that sofa until morning comes.

Apparently Mike realized he'd been found out, since he just sighed in defeat and said, "I'm gonna go shower, okay?"

Percy didn't reply. He was promptly reminded that he hadn't bathed in _days_. And it suddenly made him feel self-conscious.

He sniffed himself. He really stinked.

Percy took his cleaner set of clothes from his bag. As soon as Mike was out of the shower he went in, but not before claiming that if Mike took the sofa while he was gone, Percy was going to sleep on the floor. He heard Mike reply with a dry, "Yeah, yeah," before Percy closed the bathroom door.

Dear gods and goddesses was it _great_ to shower after so long.

When he got out Mike was already sleeping on the bed.

Sleep sounded really good right now. So he laid down on the sofa and immediately fell asleep.

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

Percy was in the dream world, he was sure of it. If only because some girl just walked _through_ him.

It felt weird and he tried not to dwell on it too much.

Anyway, in this dream world he was standing in a forest, in front of some kind of camp site, he guessed. He saw a guy, blonde, looked like he was sixteen or seventeen, saying his farewell towards some other people, most of which are around Percy's age, some older, but none of them are of an adult age.

Well there's one but he was a _centaur_. You know, half man half horse? Anyway, he's a bit wary now since his experience with the 'other-worldly' wasn't really favorable so far. He observed a little more and also saw one or two half man half... what, donkey? Well, yeah. That.

He was pretty sure his mom told him something about this kind of creature but he couldn't remember.

He was brought back from his thoughts when a girl went up to the teen and hugged him. Maybe his sister? They're both blonde. Yeah, not all blonde people are related, he knew, but in this kind of situation isn't that the logical assumption?

After a while the girl let go. Her eyes were a bit wet and she looked like she was trying hard not to cry. The teen ruffled the girl's hair, presumably to cheer her up, but that just caused her to give him light punches to the side.

The teen laughed and sidestepped her punches. He gave a fistbump to one of the half man half donkey person and finally waved goodbye to the rest of the people there. Although a few steps later he stopped by a pine tree and laid a hand on its trunk. He then proceeded to say goodbye to the tree in a sad tone before continuing on with his journey.

Weird.

(Unfortunately Percy failed to realize that he was the one who gushes over his sword as if it was a newborn baby. Which can also be deemed, in his words, _weird_.)

He looked back for a while, but was surprised to find that the camp he saw before suddenly turned into some kind of farmhouse. Wait, was it a farmhouse? Actually he couldn't be sure now. He _saw_ a farmhouse but he somehow knew that the farmhouse didn't exist. Kinda.

Before he could inspect more, he was dragged away and woke up in the motel.

"Finally. Get ready, kid. We're having breakfast and after that we're continuing the drive to San Francisco."

Dammit, he was curious about that farmhouse. But he couldn't keep Mike waiting.

He took a quick shower (he would shower whenever he could. He would never underestimate bathing again), got dressed, picked up his bag (he left Nightfall in the truck the night before since it wasn't very inconspicuous, even though he didn't want to), and followed Mike to the motel's restaurant.

Just like how he savored the feel of showering, he did the same with his breakfast. While he would be staying with Mike for the time being, it's not gonna be forever. So he's appreciating every moment he could.

After breakfast, he got on the truck while Mike checked them out of the motel. While he was waiting for Mike, his mind went back to the dream he had.

Basically it was about a guy he didn't recognize waving goodbye to his friends, humans and non-humans. And the campsite which turned into a farmhouse.

One thing's for sure, that place has got to be related to the Greek business that's been around him lately. And if he really wanna find a clue on how to enter The Underworld, that place might be able to help him.

Mike finished with his business and drove them away. When they passed some forest all Percy could do was stare. It would be great if he could camp there sometimes. He hoped that's possible someday.

This kidnap didn't turn out to be so bad after all. Maybe he could take it easy on his quest to find the entrance and enjoy life a little. If being a demigod meant that he's gonna be chased by monsters all around, he better enjoy what peace he had, right?

 **.:-Chapter 03-:.**

 **That's done.** **Cliffie ending? Definitely.**

 **I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post this and the Wi-Fi connection to my room is shit so I had to move to my living room which is scary at night and I'm a coward but I still do it anyway because I'm stubborn.**

 **On another note,** **I had fun changing the perspectives between Mike and Percy lol.**

 **I need some help because I have absolutely no naming sense.**

 **Michael Thompson? Random common name I thought of.**

 **Dianne? I was** **reading a manga** **called Seven Deadly Sins and** **there was a character whose name I really liked** **(no** **,** **the character in here is** _ **nowhere**_ **near SDS Dianne's personality). I don't even have a surname for her yet!**

 **The Company? I couldn't think of a name.**

 **It would be great if you guys could give me some ideas on The Company's name. Also if you can help me come up with names for future OCs who may or may not appear and may or may not be relevant to the story. I don't know. According to how I bring this story later on I guess. Just names. And physical description would be nice too, I guess. Don't care what their physique looks like, I just want suggestions. But I don't suggest offering your personal OC to me since I might not do their personality justice and you might not like the way I write them. And as I've said before, they might not appear!**

 **But if you're fine with that, than go ahead :)**

 **(btw if you wanna help me determine Mike's and Dianne's physical appearance, that's be great.)**

 **The distance between New York and San Francisco? Google Maps. Yeah. I don't know the traffic there but Google Maps said that the distance was two days, give or take. So just imagine there's no traffic jam okie :)**

 **This is what I get for writing a story with a background location I don't recognize.**

 **And I'm sure some of you noticed already, but Percy stutters or basically have difficulties whenever he lies. I count that as Sally's achievement in raising Percy to be a good kid (which honestly wouldn't last. He'd have to lie** _ **a lot**_ **to hide his Greek heritage after** **all).**

 **Also sorry if my description of CHB is wrong in any way. Been a long time since I've read the novel and you know what? I've only read the first novel. I got spoilers on the other novels and know important characters but I've never actually read them. Why? Because I couldn't find the English copy in my area. *cries***

" **You can just read the PDF yanno." I really would, but there's this** **indescribable** **difference between reading from a PDF and from the actual, physical book. It's much more satisfying for me to read from the book and if you think I'm such a nerd then yeah, I** _ **am**_ **such a nerd and I won't change my way of doing things.**

 **When's the next update? Nobody knows. Even I don't know. Don't lose hope, dearies.**

 **Reviews are good. They ignite motivation for me to write.**

 **Choppa, out.**


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